Wheelbarrow



y 13, 1941- L. M. BOYLE 2,242,171

WHEELBARROW Filed May 14, 1940 FIE-7,1,

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Patent ed May 13, 194i wnsnnnannow Louis M. Boyle, Los Angeles, Calif assignor to Boyle Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Delaware Application May 14, 1940, Serial No. 335,176 2 Claims. erm-.52)

This invention relates to a wheelbarrow the particularly to an improved light weight wheel barrow. especially-adaptable for use in light work.-

Various types of wheelbarrows have been suggested'and used. Most of these wheelbarrows have been designed for heavy and rough usage which necessitated that they'be of a relatively heavy construction to withstand the use to which they were subjected. While. such heavy wheelbarrows are practical and satisfactory in their use in heavy" construction work and the like, they are too-heavy and unwieldy for light use, such asthe use to whichawheelbarrow would be put around the home as in the practice of light gardening. Many types of wheelbarrows'have been proposed for such light use but most of them have been'unsatisfactory in that they were too flimsy and were not very substantial in their construc-' tion. Also, most wheelba'rrows heretofore manufactured and sold consisted of an excessive number of parts which were not only dimcult and tedious to assemble, but were also expensive to fabricate, which'cftentimes made the cost of such wheelbarrcwsprohibitive.

', In the present invention there is provided a relatively light weight wheelbarrow which is simple and practical in its construction and one that can be easily and conveniently manufactured at a minimum expense.

. Accordingly. it is one of the objectsof the present invention to provide an improved light 7 weight wheelbarrow which consists of a minimum number .of parts, and yet one which is strong I "and rugged in its construction.

' It is another object of the invention to provide an improved wheelbarrow which consists of parts which can be easily and inexpensively fabricated.

' and assembled ina minimum amount of time.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a light weight wheelbarrow of a standard tion 1 immediately above and rearwardly of the trunnion-like'portion 8 for supporting the front and ordinary size. and one that can be conveniently and easily used and stored in a minimum amount of space. 1

Various other objects and advantages of my invention will be more apparent in the course of the following specification and will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

.Inthe accompanying drawing there is shown,

for the purpose of illustration. one embodiment and several modifications thereof which my invention may assume in practice. In the drawing: Figure l is a plan view of the barrow of my invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof;

improved wheel- Figure 3' is a rear elevation thereof; Figure 41s a side elevation showing the position the wheelbarrow of my invention will assume when stored away and out of use;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of one of the frame members of myimproved wheelbarrow; and

Figure 6 is a plan view thereof.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the

improved wheelbarrow of my invention comprises a frame 2,. a wheel '3 and a tray or bodymember 4. According to the present invention, the frame consists of a pair of spaced apart converging metallic members 5 which are preferably made from a metallic tubular member or pipe, but it will be understood that these members may be made from any desired structural shapeor from any other suitable material; v

As more fully shown in Figures 5 and 6 of the drawing, eachof the metallic members 5 is bent or otherwise formed. so as to provide a downwardly and forwardly extending axle'and wheel supporting trunnion-like portion '8 on the forward end thereof, a substantially U-shaped porend of the tray or body member I, a downwardly extending substantially U-sha-ped portion 8 dis--. posed rearwardly of the front body supporting portion I, a substantially horizontal portion 9 disposed immediately above and rearwardly of the leg portion 8 for supporting the rear end ofthe tray or body member 5, and an upwardly and rearwardly extending substantially horizontal handle portion i0 disposed beyond the'rear body supporting portion 9. That is, the axle and wheel supporting portion, the tray or body member supporting portion, the supporting leg portion and the handle portion of each of the members 2 are all formed from a single piece of material and they are preferably disposed in substantially the same vertical plane as shown in Figure 6 of the drawing.

The lower ends of the axle and wheel support ing trunnion-like portions 6 of each of the metallic tubular members 5 are preferably flattened as at I! and have a hole i3 extending therethrough in which the axle i4 carrying the wheel 3 is disposed. The tray or body member 4 is mounted on the supporting portions i and 8.01 the tubular members 5 and is securely attached thereto preferably by means of bolts l5 extending through both the bottom of the tray or body member and the tubular members. tions 8 of .the tubular members 5 are preferably reenforced by means of a rod or bar member l6 The supporting leg porporting trunnion-like portions 8 be constructed and arranged so that the most forward point of the wheel 3 is flush with the most forward point of the tray or body member 4 so that the wheelbarrow when stored and out of use will stand vertically erect when supported by the wheel and the front end of the tray or body member as shown in Figure 4 of the drawing, thus requiring a minimum amount of storage space.

As a result of my invention it will be seen that there is provided a two piece tubular metallic frame, in which the wheel and the axle support, the tray or body member support, the leg and the handle of each side or piece are made integral with each other. Also, there is provided a wheelbarrow consisting of parts which are easily formed and assembled and at the same time, there is provided a wheelbarrow having a high strength-light weight ratio which is one of the most important aspects of the present invention.

While I have shown and described several embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that these embodiments are merely for the purpose of illustration and description, and that various other forms may be devised within the scope of my invention, as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a wheelbarrow including, in combination, a body member, a

frame and a wheel, -said frame consisting of a pair of spaced apart metallic members with each made from a single piece of material bent so as to provide a downwardly and outwardly extending wheel supporting flattened trunnion-like porting the front end of the body member, a

downwardly extending substantially U-shaped leg portion disposed rearwardly of the front body 1 supporting portion, a substantially horizontal portion disposed immediately above and rearwardly of said leg portion for supporting the rear end of said body member and an upwardly and rearwardly extending substantially horizontal handle portion disposed beyond the rear body supporting portion, all of said portions being arranged in substantially the same vertical plane, and means arranged between the flattened trunnion-like portions of each of said frame mambers and carried solely therebyfor rotatably supporting said wheel.

2. As an article of manufacture, a wheelbarrow including, in combination, a body member, a

frame and a wheel, said frame consisting of a pair of spaced apart metallic members-with each made from a one-piece tubular member, each of said tubular members being bent so as to provide a downwardly and outwardly extending wheel supporting trunnion-like portion on the forward end thereof having an opening arranged therein. a substantially U-shaped portion immediately above and rearwardly of said trunnion-like portion for supporting the front end of the body member, a downwardly and forwardly extending U-shaped leg portion disposed rearwardly of the front body supporting portion, a substantially horizontal portion disposed immediately above portion on the forward end thereof, a substantially U-shaped portion immediately above and rearwardly of said trunnion-like portion for supand rearwardly of said leg portion for supporting the rear end of said body member, and an upwardly and rearwardly extending substantially horizontal handle portion disposed beyond the rear body supporting portion at the rear end of the tubular member, all of said portions being arranged substantially in the same vertical plane, and an axle arranged in the openings of said trunnion-like end portions for rotatably supporting said wheel.

LOUIS M. BOYLE. 

